Jeremiah 19

Jer 19:1-15.

THE

DESOLATION OF THE

JEWS FOR

THEIR

SINS

FORETOLD IN THE

VALLEY OF

HINNOM; THE

SYMBOL OF

BREAKING A

BOTTLE.

Referred by MAURER, &c., to the beginning of

Zedekiah's reign.

1. bottle--Hebrew, bakuk, so called from the gurgling sound which

it makes when being emptied.

ancients--elders. As witnesses of the symbolic action

(Jer 19:10;

Isa 8:1, 2),

that the Jews might not afterwards plead ignorance of the prophecy. The

seventy-two elders, composing the Sanhedrim, or Great Council, were

taken partly from "the priests," partly from the other tribes, that is,

"the people," the former presiding over spiritual matters, the latter

over civil; the seventy-two represented the whole people.

2. valley of the son of Hinnom--or Tophet, south of Jerusalem, where

human victims were offered, and children made to pass through the fire,

in honor of Molech.

east gate--Margin, "sun gate," sunrise being in the east.

MAURER translates, the "potter's gate." Through it lay the road to the

valley of Hinnom

(Jos 15:8).

The potters there formed vessels for the use of the temple, which was

close by (compare

Jer 19:10, 14;

Jer 18:2;

Zec 11:13).

The same as "the water gate toward the east"

(Ne 3:26; 12:37);

so called from the brook Kedron. CALVIN

translates, as English Version and Margin. "It was

monstrous perversity to tread the law under foot in so conspicuous a

place, over which the sun daily rising reminded them of the light of

God's law."

3. The scene of their guilt is chosen as the scene of the denunciation

against them.

kings--the king and queen

(Jer 13:18);

or including the king's counsellors and governors under him.

tingle--as if struck by a thunder peal

(1Sa 3:11;

2Ki 21:12).

4.

(Isa 65:11).

estranged this place--devoted it to the worship of strange gods:

alienating a portion of the sacred city from God, the rightful Lord of

the temple, city, and whole land.

nor their fathers--namely, the godly among them; their ungodly fathers God makes no account of.

blood of innocents--slain in honor of Molech

(Jer 7:31;

Ps 106:37).

5. commanded not--nay, more, I commanded the opposite

(Le 18:21;

see

Jer 7:31, 32).

6. no more . . . Tophet--from Hebrew, toph,

"drum"; for in sacrificing children to Molech drums were beaten to

drown their cries. Thus the name indicated the joy of the people at

the fancied propitiation of the god by this sacrifice; in

antithesis to its joyless name subsequently.

valley of slaughter--It should be the scene of slaughter, no longer

of children, but of men; not of "innocents"

(Jer 19:4),

but of those who richly deserved their fate. The city could not be

assailed without first occupying the valley of Hinnom, in which was the

only fountain: hence arose the violent battle there.

7. make void the counsel--defeat their plans for repelling the enemy

(2Ch 32:1-4;

Isa 19:3; 22:9, 11).

Or their schemes of getting help by having recourse to idols [CALVIN].

in this place--The valley of Hinnom was to be the place of the

Chaldean encampment; the very place where they looked for help from

idols was to be the scene of their own slaughter.

8. (See on

Jer 18:16).

9.

(De 28:53;

La 4:10).

10. break . . . bottle--a symbolical action, explained in

Jer 19:11.

the men--the elders of the people and of the priests

(Jer 19:1;

compare

Jer 51:63, 64).

11. as one breaketh a potter's vessel--expressing God's absolute

sovereignty

(Jer 18:6;

Ps 2:9;

Isa 30:14,

Margin;

La 4:2;

Ro 9:20, 21).

cannot be made whole again--A broken potter's vessel cannot be

restored, but a new one may be made of the same material. So God raised

a new Jewish seed, not identical with the destroyed rebels, but by

substituting another generation in their stead

[GROTIUS].

no place to bury--

(Jer 7:32).

12. make this city as Tophet--that is, as defiled with dead bodies

as Tophet.

13. shall be defiled--with dead bodies

(Jer 19:12;

2Ki 23:10).

because of all the houses--Rather, (explanatory of the previous "the

houses . . . and . . . houses"), "even all the houses," &c.

[CALVIN].

roofs--being flat, they were used as high places for sacrifices to

the sun and planets

(Jer 32:29;

2Ki 23:11, 12;

Zep 1:5).

The Nabateans, south and east of the Dead Sea, a nation most friendly

to the Jews, according to STRABO, had the same

usage.

14. court of the Lord's house--near Tophet; the largest court, under

the open air, where was the greatest crowd

(2Ch 20:5).

15. her towns--the suburban villages and towns near Jerusalem, such

as Bethany.